The Wire with Castor

Recently, the United States Federal Reserve has cut interest rates by 50 basis points, citing signs of economic slowdown and lowering inflation rates. This decision, although overseas, is heavily connected to New Zealand as almost all state economies are tied to the United States. Following this decision, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand may choose to follow in the same footsteps.

This decision may reduce or slow the current recession, which New Zealand is already in the midst of, worse than the two-thousand and eight financial crisis. However, the odds of igniting consumer price may also increase leading to asset inflation additionally increasing.

Sasha spoke to professor of Business and Economics Robert MacCulloch from the University of Auckland about a deeply complicated issue, which affects all New Zealanders.

The struggles faced by the hospitality sector have been highlighted in a recent trading report from the Restaurant Association covering the second quarter of 2024. The report outlines various challenges businesses face, including low customer numbers and customer spending, reduced staff availability, and cost of goods. 

Wire host Castor spoke to the general manager of the New Zealand Restaurant Association, Nicola Waldren, about these issues and what more could be done to address them.

Around mid-August this year, senior management at the University of Auckland made an announcement saying that they were looking to cut a number of small postgraduate and undergraduate courses in the Faculty of Arts with less than 60 and 30 students respectively. 

The University said that the cuts were being proposed to “optimise” course offerings and address classroom spacing issues. They also said that the cuts came about as a result of a routine review of courses regularly conducted by the University.

The announcement resulted in widespread outcry and condemnation by the University of Auckland’s senior academics and lecturers, saying that the University gave them a limited timeframe to review and contest the changes, and the decision to cut courses such as Huarahi Māori will have an impact on marginalised communities.

Oto spoke to Nicole Wallace, an organiser at the Tertiary Education Union who works with lecturers at the University of Auckland to discuss the course cut proposal and its implications for senior academics and lecturers.

For their weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori, Oto spoke to Mariameno Kapa-Kingi about Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori last week, Gang patch legislation passing into law, and New Zealand supporting a UN resolution, calling for an end of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

He spoke to Nicole Wallace from the Tertiary Education Union to discuss a recent series of proposed cuts to short postgraduate courses at the University of Auckland.

And he spoke to John Minto from Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa to discuss Israel’s exploding pager attack in Lebanon last week, as well as New Zealand voting in favour of the UN General assembly resolution demanding an end to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.

For their weekly catch up, Evie spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about restricting contract workers from challenging their employment status, and the ban on gang patches passing into law. 

She also spoke to E Tū National Secretary Rachel Mackintosh about the same planned changes to the contractor employment law, why the Union opposes these, and what negative impact she believes it will have.